Battle Bonfire: Anarchic and very LOUD. It is a suitably parky night and one of our group has brought aromatic mulled cider in a flask.

A procession of pirates with flaming torches descend into the town square. There is the rumbling of marching drums and the stomach shaking thump thump of thunder flashes being set off in beer barrels.

The rear of the procession is brought up by rattling metal wheeled fire carts.

I want to get closer to the square to see the bonfire. I get lucky by getting behind the fire carts as the crowd fills the vacuum space made by the procession, and follow it up to the square.

The bonfire is two storeys high and once lit by the many torches, burnings viciously in huge rolling vortexes of flame, cinder and smoke. The backdrop of Battle Abbey against the fire and fireworks was dramatic.

The celebrations ended with the burning of the effigy, which was a Saxon soldier fighting Nigel Farage and Donald Trump. The slogan said: Brexit 960 years, in out, in out shake it all about. Another smaller authorative sign seems to say Keep of the Crass.

The Saxon soldiers sword burned up in a huge fizz of white showering sparks. His eyes pulsed with retina searing white magnesium, then Donald Tump’s bum caught fire. At the end, there where two enormous thumping explosions–possibly the most powerful I’ve ever witnessed, and the whole effigy was blown apart, leaving nothing but twisted metal.